Long-term overweight linked to heart disease
A recent analysis argues that long‑term overweight — measured as cumulative exposure rather than a single BMI snapshot — strongly predicts future heart disease. (knowridge.com)
Doctors have long used body mass index as a snapshot, but a new study says years spent above a healthy weight predict heart disease better than one reading. (journals.plos.org) The analysis, published April 8 in PLOS One, tracked 136,199 adults in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who had a body mass index above 25 between 1990 and 1999. Over follow-up, 12,048 participants, or 8.8%, had a cardiovascular event. (journals.plos.org) The researchers measured “cumulative excess weight exposure,” which adds up how far and how long a person’s body mass index stayed above 25 kilograms per square meter. When they included that running total in their models, baseline body mass index alone was no longer a statistically significant predictor. (journals.plos.org) Body mass index is a ratio of weight to height, and clinicians often use it as a quick screen for overweight and obesity. The study argues that a single clinic visit can miss the difference between someone newly above 25 and someone who has stayed there for 10 years. (cdc.gov) (journals.plos.org) The strongest associations showed up in younger adults. Women younger than 35 at the study baseline had a 60% higher cardiovascular risk with high cumulative exposure, compared with 27% for women ages 35 to 50 and 23% for men ages 35 to 65. (massgeneralbrigham.org) For women older than 50 and men older than 65, the study did not find a statistically significant link between cumulative excess weight and new cardiovascular events. The authors said that could reflect survivor bias, age-related differences, or limits in the data rather than proof that long-term overweight stops mattering later in life. (journals.plos.org) The paper was a secondary analysis of two long-running United States cohorts made up of health professionals, which gives it decades of repeated weight data but limits how broadly the results apply. The authors said the cohorts were predominantly White and may not represent the full United States population. (journals.plos.org) The study also does not prove that cumulative excess weight directly caused every heart attack or stroke it recorded. It adds to evidence that heart risk builds over time, not just at the moment a doctor writes down a body mass index. (journals.plos.org)
